In response to the NIDCR's call for institutional training programs to produce skilled and versatile scientists who can address the opportunities and challenges in dental, oral and craniofacial research a Comprehensive T32 NRSA Institutional Training Grant in Oral Biology is proposed. The proposal is a continuation of a T32 Training Grant in Oral Biology at the University of Florida. This broad based training program in basic and clinical biomedical investigations in oral biology will help to satisfy the continuing need for basic, multidisciplinary biomedical oral health research and to remedy the serious shortage of clinician/scientist and translational, patient oriented oral and craniofacial researchers. A combination of well funded, basic and clinical researchers have been brought together to provide a variety of training opportunities in biomedical sciences relevant to issues in oral health. The focus of the research training will be in oral bacterial and mycotic infectious diseases, host parasite interactions, vaccine strategies, relevant autoimmune diseases, connective tissue biology, gene therapy, and dental/craniofacial clinical research. The specific aims of this proposal are: 1) to produce basic multidisciplinary biomedical scientists to do research on issues of oral health; 2) to produce patient oriented dental clinician scientists; 3) to produce clinician scientists with a PhD and dental specialty training; 4) to provide clinical investigation training to produce dental clinical and translation researchers; and 5) to provide short-term experiences for dental students and dental faculty in clinical investigation and basic dental and craniofacial research to promote their interest and success in careers as clinician scientists. Interdisciplinary research training programs in the Colleges of Dentistry and Medicine will be utilized. Research training resources include the PhD Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences, an Advanced Professional Program in Clinical Investigation, the General Clinical Research Center and well funded basic and clinical biomedical scientists. By using combinations of these and other resources, an integrated and flexible training program is offered that will meet the needs of a variety of trainees and have maximum potential to produce a "cadre of highly skilled and interactive scientists" who can successfully devise and test new knowledge to advance the detection, treatment, prevention and cure of diseases and abnormalities of the oral and craniofacial structures. Relevance. Oral diseases are some of the most wide spread diseases in the human population. They can result in severe physical and psychological discomfort, financial hardship, and negatively affect a person's general health. Continued research is needed to detect, treat and prevent oral diseases to improve the well being of the human population. This training grant will produce basic and clinical scientists who will develop and implement new methods to improve oral health World-wide. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]